Water is the basic raw material in the pharmaceutical industry, and its quality, efficacy, and safety affect the product being manufactured. For this reason, every effort is made to keep the Water within acceptable parameters. In addition to the product, Water drives the quality of associated processes, such as cleaning.
Water for pharma applications is mainly classified into Purified Water and Water for injection (WFI0. Purified Water is used in less critical operations and products, such as oral solid dosage. On the other hand, WFI is used for more essential operations and products, such as parenteral products.
One major factor that drives the water quality is the ability of plant to generate the water. The plant should be selected keeping in view the manufacturing product’s requirements, to prevent deviations in the manufacturing process.
What is a Water Treatment Plant – WTP
One of many ways to ensure water quality and safety is to use a Water Treatment Plant. It processes the raw water with suitable filtration components and removes harmful elements from the Water. The filtration components include natural, chemical, physical, and electronic systems that are integrated depending on the product requirements. Each stage or component has its unique application, and its output becomes the next stage's input.
Each stage or component is designed depending on the minimum water quality or attributes. If the minimum water quality is not provided, that stage will become faulty and can even damage it. It can also affect the water treatment plant’s performance and reduce its life.
Purified Water is produced using stage-wise purification methods, including pre-treatment and reverse osmosis. Water for Injection—WFI is generated using distillation methods, where purified Water is converted to steam and then condensed to convert into WFI.
The capacity of WTP is mentioned in volume per unit of time (minutes or hours) and is selected based on the facility’s production requirements. Instruments are included to monitor vital product and process parameters. They keep an eye on the process and product. The output of these instruments is used by the automation system to maintain parameters within limits and alert personnel in case of deviation or emergency.
Modern-day WTP is operated and controlled through automation systems that automate the entire operation. It enables adjusting parameters and record data for various critical product & regulatory requirements.
What can go wrong if the appropriate WTP is not selected?
Let’s discuss some disadvantages of wrongfully selecting pharma WTP
WTP individual components and treatment stages are designed depending upon various parameters, such as feed water and application. Wrongfully selecting a WTP will damage these components and intermediate treatment stages, due to incompatibility with these factors.
The product will fail to deliver the required quality attribute and product-specific parameters.
Failure to achieve required capacity: The WTP will fail to reach the plant’s necessary capacity, resulting in production delays.
Some tips on selecting WTP for your pharma applications
Before purchasing or designing a water treatment plant for your pharma applications, it is necessary to determine what your requirements are. Let’s describe some of those.
What is your feed water?
WTP uses raw Water as a feed, and processes it into filtered Water. The values of different parameters, such as turbidity, chemistry, and feed water flow, determine the level & intensity treatment stages requirement. If appropriate treatment stages are not included in the feed water, it can contaminate the process and affect the end-product.
There are different types of feed water, such as surface water, ground water, municipal Water, or from natural resources. These water sources differ in various factors, such as organic matter, microbial activity, suspended solids, and minerals.
When designing or selecting your WTP, always consider the feed water source, through water analysis, such as TDS, microbial count, hardness, and minerals. The result of water analysi...
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